Citybox encourages guests to think outside the box. Launches new brand identity, logo, and website.

Hotel chain Citybox continues its expansion into Europe with a complete rebranding of the brand. The result includes a new logo, an updated color palette, a new website, a new guest experience, and a strong invitation to explore what the city has to offer. This change comes ahead of the hotel company's expansion into Helsinki, Stockholm, Brussels, Stavanger, and Tromsø.

"With the hotels set to open in 2024, we are transitioning from being a small hotel company to an international hotel chain, so the timing was right for a comprehensive review of our brand. Once we started, we decided to address everything. The result is a new logo, a new slogan, a new visual identity, a new website, and a new guest experience - a new everything. The only thing we decided to keep was the name Citybox," says Dorthea Berge, CMO at Citybox.

"The goal has been to emphasize our identity as a playful, modern player who thinks outside the box," Dorthea continues.

The work has been done in collaboration with the design agency Cure and the technology company Heisenbug.

The new slogan, "Go outside the box," encourages guests to go out and explore what the city offers.

"With the new brand identity, we are introducing the concept of 'Inside the box' and 'Outside the box.' Inside the box is the hotel itself, where you retreat after a long day on the go. Outside the box is everything that happens outside the hotel. It's the reason you're there. This goes back to the fact that we're not a destination hotel; we understand that our guests aren't there solely to visit us. They're there to experience the city, attend that meeting, dine at that restaurant, see that concert. We just aim to be the best option when they decide to travel," says Dorthea.

"We are incredibly pleased with the results we've achieved in collaboration with Cure and Heisenbug, especially with how the entire organization has been involved in the process. We've accomplished a lot with limited resources," says Dorthea.

"We've researched hundreds of booking websites worldwide, looking for the ultimate booking experience," says Truls Petter Bergh at the design agency Cure.

"With the new site, customer experience is taken seriously, he concludes".

The most seamless guest experience

"We have a lofty goal of creating the most seamless guest experience in the hotel industry. Guests should be able to handle the entire process themselves from start to finish without obstacles. This is just the first step, and many exciting things are happening in the near future," says Dorthea.

"We're also launching the Citybox Friends (with benefits) loyalty program. As "Friend", you get a 10% discount off all bookings plus free early check-in and late check-out in all double rooms. We've seen enough loyalty programs that are hard to understand. We wanted the benefits to be easy to grasp and provide real value from the start," says Dorthea.

Among the new features on the website is a price calendar inspired by the airline industry, showing the lowest available price on a monthly basis for the various hotels.

"The price calendar is one of the features we're most excited to showcase. Our guests are price-conscious, and during the testing phase, this feature received the most positive feedback. If you're flexible with your travel dates, you can save significant amounts by checking the price calendar," says Dorthea.

"Customization is the key to innovation. We developed a price calendar for Citybox to address challenges with the PMS system. Built on Next.js technology, it fetches price data every 30 minutes without burdening the PMS. This allows us to quickly present updated prices to end users," says Tibor Mæhlum from Heisenbug.

"Working with one of Norway's most exciting brands, especially as they stand on the threshold of significant expansion, is an honor," Tibor concludes.